After class ended, a short break was given.
The combat training here at Exelia Academy was a little unusual in that two periods ran back-to-back.
There was a brief break in the middle, but it was not long enough for the students to fully relax.
Just enough time to check their swords, drink water, wipe off sweat, and prepare for the next round of training.
It was in that brief gap.
I slowly raised myself from atop Elysia’s head.
“Kiiing……”
After staying crouched for so long, my body felt a little stiff.
Of course, it was not as if my body had actually seized up.
But the body of a baby fox was, surprisingly, quite affected by posture.
Especially when sitting quietly on someone’s head while maintaining balance. It took more attention than one might think.
I carefully climbed down over Elysia’s shoulder.
“Haku?”
Elysia held out her hand, but I flicked my tail once as if to say I was fine.
And the moment I landed on the floor, I stretched my forelegs out.
Lowering my waist.
Raising my tail.
Lengthening my body.
“Kiiing……”
It was a stretch.
An utterly ordinary stretch from an utterly ordinary baby fox.
But then.
“……”
“……”
“……”
The surroundings fell silent.
Still in the pose with my forelegs extended, I only rolled my eyes.
The students were watching.
A lot of them.
‘Why.’
I slowly stretched out my hind legs as well, then shook myself off.
My fluffy silver-pink fur swayed lightly.
At that moment, a nearby female student covered her mouth with both hands.
“……Did you see that just now?”
“I saw it.”
“He stretched.”
“His tail went up too.”
‘Anyone can stretch.’
I flattened my ears slightly.
The academy students’ reactions were more excessive than I had expected.
No, to be precise, maybe I still was not used to this body.
Normally, no one would stare this much just because someone stretched.
But right now, I was a small, round baby fox.
And one with silver fur tinged with pink, needlessly conspicuous.
‘As expected, the fur color is the problem.’
For no reason, I glanced down at my tail.
To be honest, the color of my fur itself was not bad.
It was fluffy, glossy, and shimmered faintly when it caught the light.
The problem was that it was my fur.
I let out a small sigh.
“He sighed.”
“He really seems like he understands human speech.”
“He accepted the apology earlier too.”
“And during training, the magic……”
“Shh.”
Someone stopped speaking.
It seemed they had recalled what had happened a moment ago.
The atmosphere turned awkward for just an instant.
Fortunately, that awkwardness did not last long.
I deliberately pretended nothing was wrong and walked toward Elysia.
My little paws tapped against the training ground floor.
Elysia was sitting on a chair meant for resting.
She set her water bottle down beside her and looked at me.
Her face still had not completely lost the tension from a little while ago.
I looked up at her for a moment.
‘She’s still worried about it.’
The fact that Richard had fired magic.
The fact that she had failed to stop it.
And the fact that I had erased that magic right before her eyes.
Her expression was a mixture of many things.
I did not bother explaining.
Instead, I lightly jumped up.
Pong.
I settled onto Elysia’s lap.
“Haku.”
Elysia’s voice softened a little.
Instead of answering, I curled up on her lap.
Then I rested my chin on my forepaws.
‘Let’s rest.’
That was enough.
Elysia’s hand carefully came down.
She was about to touch my back, then paused for a moment.
It seemed she was hesitating over whether it was all right for only her to touch me after forbidding the other students from doing so.
I lightly brushed her wrist with the tip of my tail.
“Kiiing.”
You are fine.
Elysia blinked for a moment, then very carefully stroked my back.
Her touch was clumsy, but warm.
I half-closed my eyes.
But at that moment, presences began to gather around us.
One.
Two.
Three.
And before I knew it, students had formed a circle around Elysia.
“……”
I opened my eyes.
The students were looking at me without saying a word.
More precisely, with faces that said they wanted to touch me but were holding themselves back.
‘What is this?’
I curled myself even tighter on Elysia’s lap.
A female student with light brown hair and round glasses cautiously asked,
“Lady Elysia. Touching him is…… still not allowed, right?”
Elysia shook her head.
“Haku is still uncomfortable with strangers.”
“Yes…… I know.”
The female student looked disappointed, but immediately stepped back.
However, only her hands had retreated.
Her gaze remained the same.
The other students were no different.
They did not come closer.
They did not reach out.
But all of them were staring at me.
As if a class on observing rare magical creatures had just begun.
‘This is uncomfortable.’
I narrowed my eyes on Elysia’s lap.
It was strange.
I was sure that until this morning, I had only wanted to live quietly.
Hide my identity, pretend to be a familiar, and stay moderately close to Elysia’s side.
But now?
On my first day at the academy.
I had been hit by an eraser in the classroom.
Erased magic on the training ground.
And during break time, I was surrounded by students and being watched.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
Now that I thought about it, it had gone wrong from the very beginning.
The moment I climbed onto Elysia’s head, my quiet life was as good as over.
“He’s really well-behaved.”
“He didn’t fall off even on the training ground.”
“He must have an incredible sense of balance.”
“Lady Valerion’s movements earlier were different from usual too, weren’t they?”
“Right. They were much smoother.”
At those words, Elysia’s hand paused for a moment.
I raised only my eyes to look at her.
Elysia had heard it too.
She looked down at her own hand for a moment.
The hand that had gripped a training sword.
The hand that, just a little while ago, had moved far more naturally than usual.
“……I felt that way too.”
Elysia said quietly.
The surrounding students blinked.
Normally, those were not words she would easily say.
Elysia was always composed and did not readily reveal weakness.
As befitted the young lady of a good family, she was the type who would not speak of her own wavering in front of others.
But right now, she was a little different.
She was confused too.
“My body felt strangely light today.”
“Perhaps you’re just in good condition?”
The girl with glasses spoke carefully.
“Maybe you had a good breakfast……”
“That could be it.”
Elysia answered that way, but her face did not look entirely convinced.
I quickly closed my eyes.
‘That’s right. It was because of breakfast.’
Let’s leave it at that.
In any case, breakfast had been amazing.
It was not because I secretly let my demonic energy flow and loosened her aura circulation a little.
Absolutely not.
Just then, a male student cautiously lowered himself.
He bent his knees slightly as if trying to meet my eye level.
“Your name was Haku, right?”
I half-opened my eyes.
“Kiiing.”
Why are you calling me?
The male student hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice for no reason.
“You must have been really surprised earlier, right?”
‘Not really.’
Instead of answering, I flicked my tail once.
At that, the expressions of the students around me softened in a strange way.
“He answered.”
“Doesn’t he really understand us?”
“Well, he’s a familiar, so he should understand to some extent.”
“But he’s still too smart.”
‘This is troublesome.’
Becoming popular might not be a bad thing.
At least it was better than everyone being hostile.
But drawing too much attention was not good either.
I had to hide my identity, and there were troublesome issues like Wolyeong’s remnants and the tenth tail.
Besides, if my power was revealed, academy life would definitely become even more annoying.
So it had to be moderate.
Moderately cute.
Moderately clever.
A moderately ordinary familiar.
‘……Though I feel like it’s already too late.’
I turned my head slightly.
The opposite side of the training ground.
Richard was there.
He was checking his sword in a place apart from the other students.
On the surface, he looked calm.
But his gaze was directed this way.
More precisely, at Elysia and me.
He was not smiling.
His face looked far more displeased than before.
‘As expected, he has no intention of letting this go.’
I watched him, then buried my head again.
It did not matter.
If he became annoying, I would think about it then.
Right now, it was break time.
And I wanted to rest.
“Haku.”
Elysia called quietly.
With my eyes still closed, I only moved my ears.
“For the next training session too…… do you want to stay on my head?”
I thought about it for a moment.
The training ground floor was hard, and there were many students.
Swords came and went, feet came and went, and sometimes uncontrolled mana came flying too.
Compared to being down there alone, Elysia’s head was far safer.
No, rather than safe, it was comfortable.
I lifted my head slightly and looked at Elysia.
“Kiiing.”
Yes.
Elysia smiled faintly.
“All right.”
The surrounding students began to murmur again.
“It really feels like they’re having a conversation.”
“Lady Valerion and he must already share a deep bond.”
“They said it hasn’t even been a day since they formed the contract, right?”
“Then isn’t that even more amazing?”
I closed my eyes again.
‘Bond? What is that, like affection points between a familiar and its master?’
Elysia’s hand slowly stroked my back.
The gazes around us were still burdensome, but her lap was fairly comfortable.
It was warm.
Quiet.
And more than anything, Elysia’s aura was a little more stable than before.
Feeling that sensation, I let out a small breath.
‘Yes. For now, this is enough.’
Training was not over yet.
Richard had not quietly backed down yet either.
And Elysia’s flow was still tangled.
But at least during this short break.
I was simply a popular baby fox.
“So cute……”
Someone murmured softly again.
With my eyes closed, I gave no response.
‘Yes.’
Let’s admit it now.
Apparently, in Elysia’s class, I had already become a celebrity... no, a celebritfox.